The Negatives

The Negative Effects

Property Devaluation

With a 50 story wind turbine towering over your property, with some allowed as close as 750 feet plus a blade length from your foundation, NOT your property line, do you think maybe you might lose some property value? Given the noise that these turbines are allowed to produce, the eyesore factor, and the reports of adverse health effects, would you want to live in what is now an industrial zone? Imagine trying to sell your home. Imagine who would want to build a home near one of these?

Studies done by certified and respected real estate appraisers put property devaluation as low as 80% for those who live within 1/2 mile of a turbine and has impacted properties as much as 20% three miles away! Click here for the study

Please take a moment to visit and review the links below on the effects of wind turbines on residential property values.

Noise

Many residents that live near wind projects complain of annoying noise being generated from the turbines that have negatively impacted their ability to sleep at night.

Current law requires that turbines be sited at least 1,125 feet from property lines and old rules for approved projects, including Scioto Ridge & Buckeye Wind, allow for them to be much, much close to homes. Studies have shown that of residents who live within ½ mile of a turbine (2,640 ft) 50% of them said that noise had been a problem and of those living within ½ mile and 1 mile 33% agreed that noise was a problem! On top of that - 35% of those that live within ½ mile near a turbine stated that they had been awoken from sleep by turbine noise.

In addition to the audible noise emitted from a wind turbine, there is also infrasound. Infrasound is sound frequency that is below 20 Hz and is inaudible to the human ear. This type of sound has been associated with sleeplessness, fatigue, and irritability.

According to an article in the Environmental Health Perspectives - “Turbine noise is often deemed more annoying than transportation noise because of its high variability in both level and quality. Unlike vehicle traffic, which tends to get quieter at night, turbines can sound louder at night. And they generate lower frequencies of sound, which tend to be judged as more annoying than higher frequencies and are more likely to travel through walls and windows.”

No Noise Law or Ordinance?

You may be surprised to know that there is no law or ordinance that governs the amount of noise that a wind turbine may generate in Ohio. The governing bodies have been directed to adopt rules that set allowable noise levels, however, that has yet to be done.

Here is an excerpt from the Noise Impact Study...

There are no state statutes or regulations that establish quantitative noise standards which are applicable to this project

The link for the Noise Impact Study filed by Everpower can be found at the link below.

Shadow Flicker

Shadow Flicker is the term used to describe the moving shadows that an operating wind turbine casts over an identified receptor (aka your home or property) at times of the day when the turbine rotor is between the sun and a receptor’s position.

Aside from being just plain annoying and disrupting your right to peacefully enjoy your home and property, many people have reported symptoms such as nausea, headaches, migraines, and vertigo.

Below is a map provided by the developer of the predicted shadow flicker for the Everpower project. The average home (aka receptor) is expected to receive about 30 hours of shadow flicker per year.